On June 23, 2017, MGT Capital Investments announced an agreement to purchase 60 mining computers from Bit5ive allowing it to join in on the Ethereum mining hubbub. Ethereum mining hubbub, announcing on June 23, 2017, an agreement to purchase 60 mining computers from Bit5ive.
MGT President Robert Ladd spoke with ETHNews about the investment. He explained that, historically, MGT has focused on bitcoin mining, and that is the company’s first foray into Ethereum. While MGT might be a little late to the Ether party, mining remains a very profitable undertaking, said Ladd. The company optimizes its mining operations based on the fluctuations in virtual currency prices. At present, MGT has 18 PetaHash of mining power overall. The company is also interested in mining additional cryptocurrencies including Zcash, a virtual currency that utilizes zero-knowledge cryptography.
The formation of the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance and the utility of executable distributed code contracts give promise to the Ethereum blockchain, MGT explained in its press release.
Apart from its mining division, MGT develops cybersecurity products under the direction of CEO John McAfee. Regarding the company’s most recent mining investment, McAfee said:
"We are more convinced each day of the growth and value of digital currencies, and our Company is uniquely positioned to be a leading provider of processing power to relevant blockchains. The addition of Ethereum and Ethereum Classic to our crypto mining strategies is expected to be very profitable for us."